April 2012 Employee Newsletter

Liberty Continues to Make History

On the tails of celebrating 40 years, Liberty University has again made history not once, but twice since our last monthly update. The hard work and determination of employees working together with shared vision and purpose have led to landmark accomplishments.

Gathered from multiple departments and led by the Office of Promotional Publications, the planning team spent many hours organizing and making it all come together. One participant who enjoyed the morning’s events called it, “the most thrilling and exciting groundbreaking ceremony” he had ever attended. Over 5,000 students, professors and Liberty friends witnessed the dedication and groundbreaking for the largest building project in Liberty’s history, The Jerry Falwell Library.

While Liberty’s ever-expanding campus is making the headlines, our online counterpart has also reached a pivotal height. This March, Liberty University Online’s enrollment reached 70,000. Senior Vice President for Enrollment Management, Chris Johnson, recognized the hard work of Liberty’s online employees and marketing team with a celebration that included a chocolate fountain and fruit.

It is exciting to watch Liberty grow and to see my father’s dreams continue to thrive through all of your hard work. You truly do matter.

Video: “First Brick” Celebration for the Jerry Falwell Library

Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. and his wife Becki donated the first commemorative bricks to kick-off the Jerry Falwell Library Campaign in a ceremony in March. Choosing four bricks the Falwells used the online process and completed their order in minutes.

Watching their bricks appear on the screen as they designed them, Falwell commented, “You all have done a great job. This is really easy to use.”

Senior Vice President of Marketing Ron Kennedy, thanked the Chancellor and Becki for donating the first bricks in the campaign and presented them with a gold shovel used at the recent library groundbreaking ceremony. “I want to thank everyone who’s worked on the campaign and the website. We’re excited to get it started,” Kennedy said.

Representatives from Promotional Publications, Development, Finance, Creative Media, Business Intelligence and Donor Services were on hand to watch the donation of the first bricks after collaborating for the past four months to develop the campaign and website. This was the first time in Liberty’s history that so many departments came together on this type of project and the first time donation opportunities have been available online with so many options.

Marketing Manager Christi Gee stated, “Everyone involved brought his or her expertise to the table and shared in the creative process. This is an amazing group of talented people who love Liberty.”

Unlike many former campaigns, which were accessible only to those making much larger donations, the Brick Campaign has a level of participation for anyone wanting to support this exciting new facility at the heart of Liberty’s campus. Everyone is encouraged to visit the Jerry Falwell Library Brick Campaign, donate a brick and share their part of Liberty’s story.

The brick donation portal is housed within a larger campaign website, designed by team members from Web Content and Creative Media Design: Ben Manley, Lachelle Kozma, Jason Pope and Diane Austin.

Video: CASAS Recognizes Employees

The Center for Academic Support and Advising Services (CASAS) recently held a breakfast in honor of their employees. At this special event, the most recent employees of the month were recognized and awarded their Employee of the Month packets.

The Center for Multicultural Enrichment

As the You Matter campaign was implemented across campus, stories of exceptional employees began to surface almost immediately. The Center for Multicultural Enrichment (Center4ME) has expounded upon the initiative and incorporated its standards throughout their office.

“In January, my administrative assistant [Dammy Onafowokan] and I reviewed the employee recognition ideas and Center4ME is proud to state that we had already been implementing 10 of 61 ideas prior to the ‘You Matter’ campaign. In an effort to ‘step up’ our efforts, we have committed to implementing 15 more activities — one per week of the semester,” said Center4ME Director Melany Pearl.

The Center4ME believes that the potential of the You Matter campaign to increase productivity and staff cohesion is very valuable. They have risen to the challenge and have begun to recognize a Center4ME student employee of the week in their office and have added Fun Friday activities and a student employee suggestion box.

Rock Star!

Kristin Conrad, Marketing Director for the Office of Promotional Publications, put her own spin on recognizing employees who have gone above and beyond. A weekly “Rock Star” is anonymously nominated by employees, to be recognized for their hard work and contribution to the office.

Each Friday, one employee is awarded the Rock Star award, a studded, glitter adorned carving of the words “Rock Star” to decorate his/her cubicle. That employee also is granted the right to be referred to as "rock star" for the following week.

What a great way to recognize our outstanding Liberty employees weekly, in addition to our Employees of the Month. Each department can purchase their own Rock Star award at our local Target.

New Story of Liberty Mountain Interactive Timeline

Most Liberty Alumni are familiar with the inspiring story of how Dr. Jerry Falwell, Sr. prayed for, and through generous contributions, acquired areas of Liberty Mountain. God continues to bless Liberty. It is important for faculty, staff, students and alumni to know the stories that have shaped Liberty into the world-class university that it is today.

Rare photos have been compiled to construct an online, interactive timeline, documenting Liberty’s rich history. As you peruse through the Liberty Mountain Timeline, we hope that you are motivated by the story behind the world’s largest Christian university.

You Matter Twitter This Past Month

Are you following us on Twitter? Follow us @LibertyUMatter to stay current on news, be eligible for great giveaways and encourage your fellow employees.

Top Tweets in March:

Just had one of the best customer service experiences @LibertyU student service center--so helpful! @LibertyUMatter

Customer Service Standard of the Month

"Customer loyalty is created when core service elements meet expectations and quality service exceeds expectations, consistently."

Our students, their parents or guardians, alumni, professors, staff and donors are all a part of the Liberty University family. We have the honor of representing Liberty to each of these groups. Simply fulfilling that responsibility may put a punch in your time card, but exceeding that responsibility allows you to make a difference and change lives. If we are to wear the badge of Liberty employees, and more importantly, Christians, our actions and interactions ought to reflect the difference Christ has made in our lives and the difference we can make in the lives of others.